All Stars Cricket is saving my cricket club. In our second year of the programme we have half a century of All Stars with associated parents, grandparents and siblings.  They offer help, hindrance and hilarity and a mixture of heartwarming and heart stopping moments – #bigmoments We have 3 teenage Activators (to aid this slightly aging one) who were easily tempted to get involved – 3 hours of free training, hours to record for DofE, […]

The Devon Youth Cricket Foundation arranged a 4 hour workshop run by ex-England ‘keeper and current Notts captain Chris Read.  Chris didn’t charge to deliver this session meaning it was free for coaches across Devon – a great opportunity.  Chris delivers the wicketkeeping aspect of the ECB Level 4 coaching programme so for a lowly level 2 coach like myself this was a chance not  to be missed. There were 4 Devon age group wicketkeepers […]

Having blogged in the past about CPD, and had a bit of a moan, I have to say how valuable I found a discussion group I attended this week.  It was hosted by SASP, was not certified and as such went wherever we wanted it to go – helped by some skillful facilitation. We discussed various thoughts around coaching prompted by a couple of group tasks and short youtube videos on “quality coaching”.  The main […]

The Devon Cricket Board requested a review of our project to include in material they will distribute to future participant clubs.  For those who haven’t heard of Chance to Shine, have a look here: http://www.chancetoshine.org/about/campaign The project was delivered by gingercoaching on behalf of Seaton Cricket Club. We worked with 6 primary schools with groups across KS2.  Initially sessions were led by our coach, but as weeks went on, the class teachers were given increased […]

I think a phrase coined by Sir Clive Woodward – Thinking Clearly Under Pressure.  It stands to reason that this is necessary for success in any competitive situation.  If we consider the “comfort-stretch-panic” curve, with optimal learning occurring in the zone at the top of stretch, just before we reach panic, then it is fair to say we will be in a situation where we feel under pressure.  The nearer panic we reach, the greater […]

In recent posts I’ve made some observations about the behaviours during coaching sessions for my cricket club.  With the changing of the clocks and the improvement(!) in the weather we have now moved to outdoor training.  Having talked about the challenges in terms of seeking leadership I thought that maybe sometimes a lack of a decision maker can in fact be a positive thing.  A controversial thought maybe, but watch this clip: http://www.facebook.com/v/10150621366175936 As the […]

Having run a successful session with the club juniors last week, the changeover to the adults illustrated a few things.  Usually the nets are set up and ready to use as the colts have trained in them.  This time though, the soft ball session had not needed them to be set up.  As the senior players arrived I was debriefing the juniors.  Rather than setting up the nets (the whereabouts of which were known as […]

Recent injury has forced me to think about what I can achieve when coaching without being too physically involved.  I’ve mentioned before the set up we’ve got going this season for indoor pre-season cricket training – colts followed by seniors in the same venue on the same night.  This has given rise to me being able to access a range of coaching resources which previously haven’t been utilised.  Each week one or two senior players (with […]

It’s the time of year when my cricket coaching begins to kick into action.  There are always bits and pieces that continue year round, but with the season approaching the hours increase.  Over the past couple of seasons I have started to take on the challenge of coaching the seniors at the club at which I play.  A club with a rich history, but one which had now found a level more akin to the […]